Baby, don't you wanna go?

Authenticity, maybe

T-shirts and `Sweet Home Chicago,' for sure -- a guide to the blues mainstays

January 27, 2006|By Jamie Budzick, Special to the Tribune

You have gazed upon the city from atop the Sears Tower, sampled the deep dish at Gino's and photographed a woman who may or may not have been Oprah Winfrey while traversing the Magnificent Mile. Now it's time to complete the ultimate Chicago tourist experience with a trip to one of the city's fabled blues clubs for some live music and, quite possibly, a commemorative coffee mug.

Chicago has many options, but these four blues clubs excel in scooping up tourist dollars by offering a mix of accessibility and familiarity, with plenty of souvenirs. Each offers reliable music because, by and large, they all pull from the same coterie of talented blues musicians, who've been playing throughout the city for decades. Consider them solid entertainment venues, if not necessarily aural windows into authentic music.

Here's a guide to assist tourists in distinguishing one club from another, and give locals a glimpse of what they've been missing.

Appropriately nestled among gaudy, music-themed tourist traps like the Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's and the Hard Rock Cafe, Blue Chicago reigns supreme as a haven for visitors eager to experience all the city has to offer within walking distance of their hotels.

Blue Chicago's most redeeming quality is that patrons receive admission to both clubs--two blocks apart--for one cover charge. Each location offers a dimly lit, comfortable atmosphere and large, well-spaced tables that afford privacy and elbow room that other blues clubs lack.

The volume is kept at a conversation-friendly decibel level, leaving the well-dressed customers with the option of listening to the music or merely regarding it as background noise.

If it's a cross-cultural experience you seek, your choice sometimes can appear to be between middle-aged white tourists from Kansas City or thirtysomething business travelers from Ontario.

Next door to the 536 location is the Blue Chicago Store, which is what it says.

However, on Saturday nights, the store's "Down in the Basement" club offers an all-ages, liquor and smoke-free show for only $5, and kids under 12 are free. It's perfect for teetotalers and parents looking to expose their children to the music that paved the way for their favorite boy bands.

Price: $8 (ages 21+).

Food: The Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's at 600 N. Clark St.

Drinks: Two-drink minimum; whiskey on the rocks is about $6, beer (bottled only) is about $4.

Who buys this? Coffee mug for $10.

Tip: You get admission to the two clubs at one price. Blue Chicago is closed Sunday, Blue Chicago on Clark is closed Monday. Check the concert schedule for additional days off.

B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted

2519 N. Halsted St.; contact 773-528-1012 or www.chicagobluesbar.com

You have to love it when a club's name takes the guesswork out of what music it features and the name of the street it's on.

In contrast to the affluent, well-kept Lincoln Park neighborhood it resides in, the interior of B.L.U.E.S. is gritty and small. Unless you're inside the single-toilet bathroom or blind drunk, it's impossible to lose sight of the stage.

The narrow room is littered with wobbly stools; the vinyl on most of the seats has been torn and patched with duct tape and torn again. The stage itself isn't much bigger than a king-sized mattress, its surface area further reduced by the old, scratched piano that's long since retired, yet still sits on stage. It is an ideal atmosphere for live blues.

In fact, the only big thing about B.L.U.E.S.--aside from its 1 pint 8 oz. Sam Adams bottles--is Big Ray. On some nights, Big Ray leads his own band. The rest of the time, he's stationed at the entrance checking IDs and collecting cover charges. Big Ray is a staple at B.L.U.E.S. and it's common for bands to ask him to sing with them, which he does through the use of a cordless microphone, never leaving his post near the entrance. Big Ray is ubiquitous.

However, B.L.U.E.S.'s most appealing characteristics can also be its most annoying. The club's size doesn't allow the sound to diffuse, resulting in the occasional ear-splitting note from an electric guitar.

When the music is playing, conversations are relegated to screams between people within six inches of each other. And on weekends, unless you arrive early enough to score a stool, you may find yourself overheated and wedged between the high-fives of drunken men repeatedly yelling, "Sweet Home Chicago!"

Price: $7 Mon.-Thu.; $10 Fri.-Sat.; $8 Sun.

Food: Jay's snack chips.

Drink: Whiskey on the rocks is $6, beer (bottled only) is in the $4 range.